Behind the Veil is an exhibition from Virginia G. Ruiz, a Brooklyn-based artist from Marbella, Spain. She is primarily a bird photographer whose work merges photography, chemistry, and experimentation in the darkroom. She creates cyanotypes on glass, leaning into the beautiful complications and accidents from this unpredictable process. Over time, she has developed this into a technique called Vitrovelotype, where lifted emulsion veils become new negatives and evolving images.
Driven by curiosity and observation, Behind the Veil is inspired by the Sufi Poem, The Conference of the Birds. This work is guided by both science and myth, searching for something larger than ourselves and how that can sometimes reveal that what we are looking for was already within us. This exhibition showcases her glass and mirror pieces plus other cynaotypes and prints on paper.
Ruiz’s work is about embracing failure, understanding materials deeply, and letting go of perfection so the medium can create something bigger than she can control.
Virginia G. Ruiz
